Resurrecting a Neglected Wreck
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Niklas Eriksson 4. Riksäpplet (1676): resurrecting a neglected wreck Introduction Shipwrights, were also recruited from the Republic. The The 84-gun ship Riksäpplet was one of the first to be situation changed dramatically by the mid-century. When built by the newly recruited English Master Shipwrights in Sweden grew in power and threatened to extinguish Sweden. It was launched in 1661 and taken into service Denmark as a nation, the Dutch joined the enemy. In this in 1663. On 5 June 1676, the ship came adrift from its situation Sweden turned to England in order to recruit moorings in Dalarö in the Stockholm archipelago. The hull military expertise which included shipbuilding. Through struck a rock and sank in water that was 10–12 m deep. negotiations with Oliver Cromwell it was decided that The majority of the guns and the rig were salvaged in the three English Master Shipwrights would move to Sweden following years. During the nineteenth and early twentieth (Anderson, 1957: p. 101; Lundgren, 2000: p. 10). centuries, dynamite was used to blast the hull in order to The most well-known among these was Francis recover black oak for producing furniture. As a result, the Sheldon (1612–1692), who was sent to the shipyard in site is now regarded as totally ruined. Göteborg. Before moving to Sweden he was involved in the As part of the interdisciplinary project Ships at War: construction of the ships Naseby, launched at the Woolwich early modern maritime battlefields in the Baltic Sea, at shipyard in 1655, and the London, launched at the Chatham Södertörn University in Sweden, it has been possible to shipyard in 1656 (Stackell, 1929; Eriksson, 2015; 2017a; take a closer look at the wreck. The work has consisted 2017b). His first large ship in Sweden was Riksäpplet. of a minor field survey as well as compiling an inventory His shipbuilding style and ideas are revealed by of finds recovered from the wreck during the past 150 a Navy Board style model, kept in the Swedish National years. These are dispersed in different museums and in Maritime Museum (Fig. 1) and referred to as ‘Ö 3’ from private hands, but have never been properly catalogued its inventory number (for discussions regarding this model, or published. Together with a re-reading of documentary see Anderson, 1924: p. 217; Eriksson, 2017a: p. 89–108; sources, several new insights have been made regarding the 2017b; Fox, 1980: p. 133; Glete, 1990; Svensson, 1961: pp. special architecture and distinctive features of Riksäpplet. 97–98). The model Ö 3 is very interesting in this context as The results are of particular interest for understanding the it served as inspiration for Riksäpplet. introduction of English-style shipbuilding in Sweden. With the introduction of the English Master Shipwrights, both Dutch and English shipbuilding styles were practised From Dutch to English shipbuilding in parallel at the Swedish naval shipyards. The expressions In the early seventeenth century the Dutch Republic Holländskt manér (Dutch manner) and Engelskt manér formed Sweden´s most important trading partner and (English manner) were used to distinguish the differences a military ally. Many Dutch families settled in Sweden, and in styles and techniques (cf. Rålamb, 1691; Svensson, 1963: Dutch art and architecture became fashionable. Capable, pp. 91–108; Eriksson, 2017a; 2017b). experienced, knowledgeable people, not least Master Figure 1: The ship model called ‘Ö 3’ after its inventory number in the Swedish National Maritime Museum. It was used by the master shipwright Francis Sheldon to communicate his vision for the ship Riksäpplet (Photo: Johan Jonsson, SMM, edited by the author). 39 Session: Ships and Ships Finds in the Baltic Figure 2: Director of ‘Olschanski’s Salvage and Diving Enterprises on Sunken Ships’ Leonard Olschanski (1882–1943) to the left and Commanding Officer Lenny Stackell (1875–1957) to the right, posing together with an iron cannon raised from the wreck Jägaren and other objects recovered from Riksäpplet, sunk in 1676. The picture was taken in 1921 on deck of the salvage vessel Sigrid (SMM Fo86859C). In 1659 a large shipbuilding programme was initiated navy. For instance, the Florentine diplomat Lorentzo in order to produce new large ships for the navy (Glete, Magalotti mentions that ‘the best of Dutch and English 2010: pp. 418–423). The largest among these were named shipbuilding has been united’ in the sister ship Kronan, after the royal regalia. The first,Kronan (The Crown), with which was also built by Sheldon (Magalotti, 1912: pp. 22– 126 guns, was the grandest of them all, and – just like 23, author’s translation). Riksäpplet – was built by Francis Sheldon. Second was These great ships first came into use during the so-called Svärdet (The Sword) with 86 guns, built by the Dutch Scanian War (1675–1679), which became a total disaster shipwright Jacob de Voss. The third, Nyckeln (The Key), for the Swedes. The first huge defeat was on 1 June 1676, also carried 86 guns, and this was built by the Englishman when the large Kronan capsized and exploded during the Thomas Day. In terms of size, Riksäpplet came next in line, Battle of Southern Öland. Only 1.5 hours later Svärdet was and was the fourth largest ship. lit by a fireship and blew up. Riksäpplet was built about the same time as the ship Both these ships have received a lot of attention Svärdet, and in 1663 both ships were moored below the from archaeologists. Kronan has been the subject of royal castle of Tre Kronor in Stockholm. A French valet underwater excavations continuously for the past 35 years, who was visiting described how the public were allowed and an exhibition has been built around the artefacts entrance to the new ships, and also mentions the different recovered at the Kalmar county museum (see Johansson, nationalities of the Master Shipwrights. That Riksäpplet was 1985; Einarsson, 1997, 2015, 2016). Svärdet’s last fight is built by an Englishman and Svärdet by a Dutchman seems legendary, and people have been searching for this wreck to have been a topic on everybody’s lips (cf. Eriksson, 2015: for ages (see Eriksson, 2017a; Eriksson and Rönnby, 2017). pp. 172–188, forthcoming a and b; Oscarsson, 2013: pp. The fate of the ship Riksäpplet is different. After the 169–170). This does not necessarily mean that the ships defeat outside Öland the remains of the Swedish navy were identical to the ones built for the Dutch or the English escaped to Dalarö in the Stockholm archipelago. Within 40 Niklas Eriksson Riksäpplet (1676): resurrecting a neglected wreck a few days Riksäpplet came adrift in a gale, hit a rock and enough to describe the orientation of the hull on the sank. Between the years 1676 and 1684 the bronze guns seabed, the extent of preservation and to form a starting were salvaged from the wreck using a diving bell. The hull point for discussions regarding the details and peculiarities was demolished and finally blasted in 1684 in order to of the ship´s architecture (Fig. 3). reach the guns (Hafström, 1958: pp. 797–798; 2006: pp. The hull landed with an approximate 35 degree list to 95–98; Lundgren, 1997: pp. 215–217; Eriksson 2017a, starboard. The keel is preserved in its entire length, as are p. 53–87). the lowest parts of the stem and sternpost. Most of the With the introduction of the heavy diving equipment portside has been demolished during salvage operations, by the mid-nineteenth century, a new series of salvage but the starboard side resembles a nearly intact structure operations began. Another important innovation during up to the lower gun-deck. In the stern the upper part of this period was dynamite, which made underwater-blasting the starboard side rests flat on the seabed. A portion of much more efficient. The hull of Riksäpplet was further the bow, with a few gun-ports, is located some 50 m north demolished in order to recover black oak that was used as of the stern (inserted in Fig. 3). The planking in the stern material for various furnishings and carpentry. An anchor reveals that Riksäpplet had a round tucked stern, which as well as three 18-pounder cast iron guns were recovered had become common in English shipbuilding at this time and sold to Arthur Hazelius, who later displayed them (cf. Laughton, 2001: pp. 105–106) but was a novelty in at the outdoor museum that he founded in Stockholm, Swedish ship-construction. Skansen (Cederlund, 1983: p. 39; 2012: p. 12). Even if the majority of the deck beams have been In the 1920s the diving enterprise Olschaniski searched removed, there are several other clues that reveal how the for bronze guns at the wreck-site, not knowing that these rooms inside the ship were arranged. In order to visualize had been raised already in the 1670s (Fig. 2). Not wanting this, I have made the reconstruction presented in Fig. 4. to leave the site empty-handed, they recovered all the The outline of the hull, as well as the curvature of the stem deck-beams from the wreck, as they provided good wood and the orientations of the upper deck-levels are from the for making furniture. The salvage work was supervised model Ö 3 (shown in Fig. 1). The rooms in the hold and on by commanding officer Lenny Stackell (1875–1957), who the orlop deck are reconstructed from the wreck. had a genuine interest in naval history and conducted When English shipbuilding was introduced in Sweden in important archival research. Carvings, ammunition and the 1650s there were lively discussions in the Admiralty as other artefacts were sold to the collection that later was the narrow English ships differed from the wide and shallow to become the Swedish National Maritime Museum Dutch hulls that the admirals were used to.